Siege of Sedona
The Siege of Sedona was a major battle in the NCR Arizona Offensive, which, along with the Siege of Prescott one of the two major siege in the buildup to the Siege of Phoenix. Because of the spread out nature of the city and the rugged terrain, the siege was one of the longest in the war, rivaled only by the Siege of Phoenix, with heavy fighting lasting from from September 19th to October 2nd, 2282, and Legion holdouts in more remote areas northwest of Oak Creek Canyon not surrendering until November 2nd. Flanking the City See also: Battle of Oak Creek Canyon The initial operations in the Siege of the Sedona involved taking the two main roads into the city, Highway 89 A to the north and Interstate 17, which bypassed the city to the east, before meeting Highway 81A on the south side of the city, essentially providing an easy flanking route for NCR armored forces. On September 19th, NCR armored and mechanized infantry advanced along I-17, easily crushing Legion resistance on the road itself and pushing to the Intersection of I-17 and Highway 81A. From September 20th-22nd, NCR forces seized Horse Mountain and Beaver Canyon, located to the south of Oak Creek Village, a community south of the main city of Sedona. The NCR forces attacking down Highway 81A from the north were less successful, being ambushed and pushed back after the Legion placed explosives and caused a landslide on the walls of Oak Creek Canyon, destroying three tanks and killing 41 NCR troops. The ambush, which became known as the Battle of the Rockfall, was the first of numerous engagements in the Battle of Oak Creek Canyon. The NCR engagements in the main line of Oak Creek Canyon would last from September 19th to the 29th, when Highway 89A through the Canyon was secured, however, Legion holdouts would remain in the more remote areas to the northwest of the canyon for the better part of a month. Taking the Oak Creek Village On September 23rd, having seized the mesatops to the south, NCR forces began assaulting the Legion defenses on the south side of Oak Creek Village, a community to the south of Sedona. NCR armor and infantry advanced through the ruined homes of the village relatively quickly, facing little Legion resistance until they came in range of snipers, machine guns, rocket, and mortar fire from the second line of Legion defenses, along the a series of buttes and rock formations known as Bell Rock, Courthouse Butte, and Cathederal Rock. NCR armored forces returned fire, shelling strong points and raking the Legion positions with machine gun fire. At 1120 hours on September 23rd, NCR forces began their advance towards the Legion strong points, the armored forces suppressing any remaining Legion defenses with heavy machine gun fire. After about 20 minutes of heavy fighting, NCR infantry seized the south end of a ridge located to the south of Cathedral Rock, ascending up a gap in the cliffs to the rear and eliminating the Legion infantry on the upper slopes. Bell Rock was taken relatively easily, being the smallest of the three summits along the Legion lines of resistance, as was the road block on Highway 189, located between Bell Rock and the ridge. The Legion forces on Courthouse Butte and Lee Mountain, however, held out longer, the sheer vertical cliffs preventing any easy access by NCR ground forces. At 1210 hours, after an extended firefight with Legion troops on the remaining positions, NCR forces authorized air support in the form of two ACV-80 gunships and two ACV-80 troop transports carrying airborne forces. The gunships quickly suppressed the Legion forces defending the summits, allowing airborne forces to be deployed. By 1300 hours, NCR forces held the line of resistance from Lee Mountain to the unnamed ridge south Cathedral Rock, however, further NCR advances were hampered by Legion positions on an escarpment one which stood an older pre-war airport. NCR forces would seize this position on September 29th, after finally breaking through the heavy defenses of Oak Creek Canyon. Taking North Sedona While the Village of Oak Creek to the south was easily taken, the NCR forces were prevented from making any further advances by Legion forces, including artillery, occupying the high ground on a mesa on that was the location of the former Sedona Airport. After finally clearing Oak Creek Canyon and breaking through into north Sedona, the route to the airport mesa was the next major objective. On September 29th, NCR forces broke out of Oak Creek Canyon, the Legion destruction of the old bridge on Highway 89 only briefly slowing them, as a forest road allowed them to bypass the canyon spanned by the bridge. NCR forces advancing from Oak Creek Canyon and from an old forest road leading them down a stretch of the Mogollon Rim west of the city known as Schnebly Hill and assaulted in the northeastern part of the city, which, like most of the rest of Sedona, consisted of low-rise pre-war structures, formerly residences and businesses. Some of the larger structures, including a five-story former hotel- one of the largest buildings in the area, was converted into an improvised fortification by the Legion. NCR tanks coming in from Oak Creek Canyon shelled the old hotel, knocking out the Legion defenses and allowing infantry to take what remained of the structure. At the same time, forces coming down from Schnebly Hill attacked the houses on the other side of Oak Creek, clearing them in house-to-house fighting supported by armor. After clearing the other side of the creek, NCR tanks and infantry crossed the shallow creek and assaulted the Legion positions on the other side, meeting up with the second NCR force after flanking a Legion roadblock and destroying it from the rear, clearing the streets of Legion forces by 1200 hours and paving the way for the assault on the Legion positions on the high ground. As NCR forces neared the airport mesa, a flight of Vertibird gunships attacked the already heavily bombed and shelled Legion positions on the rim with rocket and gunfire, taking out several of the remaining Legion artillery guns and heavy weapons positions. In spite of this, three NCR tanks and 33 infantry were lost to fire from the high ground as they approached. After heavy fighting, NCR infantry took the summit of a small hill to the west of the airport mesa. Taking this high ground allowed the NCR armor to proceed down the road to the airport itself, punching through multiple road blocks and leading the way for the infantry. After heavy fighting in the airport area, the NCR forces captured the high ground by 1400 hours, allowing NCR tanks to fire down on Legion forces in the city below, essentially acting as artillery. The remainder of the NCR operations on the September 29th consisted of "mop-up" of remaining Legion pockets of resistance in the city. On the night of September 29th-30th, Legion forces attempted a counterattack, with several hundred Legionaries charging up the northwestern slopes of the airport mesa. While the NCR forces were initially caught by surprise, resulting in 19 casualties, however, as soon as the Legion attackers were detected, NCR tanks and APCs were able to quickly cross the flat mesatop and engage the threat, their superior firepower easily forcing the Legion attackers to retreat. Pincer Assault on South Sedona With the airport mesa taken the previous day, NCR forces to the south in Oak Creek Village could advance northward into South Sedona. At the same time, NCR forces attacked two strategic high points near the divide between north and south Sedona. An NCR armored force assaulted a ridge south of the airport mesa covered in what had once been upscale pre-war homes. The tanks proved capable of easily destroying the crudely fortified structures, acting as makeshift assault guns. The residential area was cleared by 1100 hours on September 30th. The forces attacking Cathedral Rock and the Broken Arrow-Hog Heaven areas had much more difficulty, as the steep cliffs and the red sandstone rock formations Sedona was famous for made armor useless except as makeshift artillery. NCR infantry were forced to search the area thoroughly for holdouts in narrow gaps and sandstone caves and overhangs. While most of South Sedona was taken by 2000 hours on the 30th of September, pockets of resistance hidden among the rock formation and cliffs around Cathedral Rock remained until about 1200 hours on September 31st, 2282. Taking the West Side For most of September 30th and 31st, 2282, NCR artillery, mortars, and tanks on the airport mesa fired down on the western side of the city, causing severe damage to many of the Legion strongpoints, located in the few multi-story (up to about six floors) hotels and major intersections in the Western part of the city. At 1300 hours on September 31st, NCR tanks pushed down US 89 and descended down a dirt road in the side of the airport mesa into a residential area to the south of the highway, with infantry advancing behind them. The tanks used their firepower target any surviving heavy weapons emplacements as the infantry advanced to secure the area. After a day of brutal house to house fighting, the area South of Highway 89, as well as two blocks north of it had been largely cleared of Legion resistance by 1900 hours. On October 1st, NCR forces launched their offensive against the remaining Legion forces in the city. After a second day of house-to-house fighting. NCR troops forced the Legion to retreat to Capitol Butte. At the same time, NCR armored and mechanized infantry forces made a flanking maneuver to the northwest the Capitol Butte, encountering little resistance as they cut off the Legion retreat, trapping them in the canyons surrounding Capitol Butte. After trapping the Legion forces, numbering about 100 in the canyons of Capitol Butte, the first NCR operations consisted of infantry attacks supported by armor which took area around Devils Bridge and Norm's Notch, major rock formations to the northest of Capitol Butte, without resistance, further closing in the Legion forces. At 1134 hours on October 2nd, 2282, the attack on Capital Butte commenced. As armor was of little use in the engagement, the infantry were instead supported Vertibirds and power armor units, including those from the Brotherhood and Enclave Remnants. In The initial engagement began as NCR troops started taking firing from Legion holdouts on top of the cliffs on Capitol Butte. NCR and allied troops returned fire as the Legion troops were strafed by a pair of Vertibirds with gunfire and rockets. That attack forced the Legion holdouts to scatter, allowing NCR forces to advance up a canyon between Capitol Butte and another summit. While their advance was slowed by Legion sniper fire, costing 27 dead and 35 wounded on the NCR side, The NCR forces nonetheless managed to clear the area of Legion presence, with 49 Legion troops killed and the remainder, many of them suffering from wounds of varying severity, surrendering as discipline broke down with the death of a decanus, one of the last surviving officers in the area, was killed by an NCR sniper. Final Legion Holdouts While major Legion resistance in Sedona ended with the capture of Capitol Butte, small groups of Legion holdouts remained in the area until November 2nd, Holding out even after the NCR victory at the Battle of Mingus Mountain. These holdouts could not act as anything more than a nuisance to the NCR forces. The two largest engagements with the holdouts took place in Secret Canyon on October 14th and in Sycamore Canyon on November 2nd. Most of the remaining Legion forces either retreated to Phoenix or joined their comrades who were pushed out of Prescott at the pass over Mingus Mountain. Category:Battles Category:Events